Tom Brady can add Browns left tackle Joe Thomas to his list of allies. The NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, on the other hand, should leave Thomas off their list.
After practice on Sunday, Thomas went all in on the NFL, ripping the league for its "outrageous, ridiculous witch hunts." Thomas is, of course, referring to the scandal that we've all lovingly come to know as Deflategate. Thomas has another name for it. He called it a "sting operation."
Thomas also stuck up for Brady, comparing his wrongdoings to just barely speeding on the freeway. Brady is currently suspended for the first four games of the regular season.
"I would equate what [Tom Brady] did to driving 66 [mph] in a 65 speed zone, and getting the death penalty," Thomas said via ESPN.
What Thomas is arguing is that the NFL shouldn't even care about the PSI level of the football. He told ESPN that he doesn't care if quarterbacks mess with a football's PSI level because quarterbacks are already doctoring footballs, in terms of breaking them in prior to games. According to him, quarterbacks "already doctor [footballs] 99 percent" and no one has explained to him why that extra one percent (air pressure) should even matter to anyone.
"Why should we be punishing a guy that wants to do his job better?" Thomas said.
Now, Thomas did say that if the NFL wants to make it so that quarterbacks aren't allowed to break in balls before games and, instead, are forced to use balls fresh out of the box, that would be OK with him too. But as long as they're allowing quarterbacks to prepare the balls before games, Thomas doesn't think they should monitor air pressure.
Then, Thomas went ahead and compared the NFL and Goodell to both Kim Kardashian and Vince McMahon, saying that Goodell is "basically" McMahon and that the NFL's news cycle is "almost like the Kim Kardashian factor that any news is good news when you're in the NFL."
Thomas did, however, offer Goodell a compliment. He even called the commissioner "brilliant."
"I'm not sure if he realizes what he's doing is brilliant, but what he's doing is brilliant because he's made the NFL relevant 365 [days] by having these outrageous, ridiculous witch hunts," Thomas said of Goodell. "It's made the game more popular than ever and it's become so much more of an entertainment business and it's making so much money.
"That's why I'm sure there's plenty of people saying this is embarrassing for the league. But it's an entertainment business when it comes right down to it. When the game gets eyeballs in newspapers and on TV, that's what in the end is the goal for everyone. And that's what this controversy is giving them."
